Page 3 - Performance Tests
To test the performance of the fan, measured the air speed at the outlet of the fan in two scenarios when it is operating at maximum speed. The first case is with an obstruction-free outlet. The second case is with the fan attached to a heatsink, or more specifically, the SilverStone AR12-TUF heatsink. The purpose of these tests is to see the airflow and static pressure of the installed fan, and quantitatively measure how they interact when they are free and when they are attached to a heatsink fin array. Higher airflow is better in both scenarios, and it indicates the fan's capability.
Compared hardware:
- Noctua NF-A14x25 G2 PWM chromax.black (140mm)
- Cooler Master SickleFlow 120 RGB (120mm)
- Fractal Design Prisma AL-12 RGB (120mm)
- HYTE FA12 (120mm)
- SilverStone AR12-TUF (120mm)
- Thermaltake SWAFAN EX14 ARGB Sync (140mm)
Just to note, even though Noctua sent us three fans, we only tested the single PWM fan since they are on paper the same fan. Without any obstruction at the fan's output, the Noctua NF-A14x25 G2 PWM chromax.black produced fan speeds of 16.9km/h or 10.5mph. Compared to the other 140mm fan, this is a bit lower than the Thermaltake SWAFAN EX14 ARGB. As well, Noctua's numbers state a higher airflow than the Thermaltake comparable, so it is a bit surprising to see the lower number. It was also lower than the SilverStone AR12-TUF fan, which is a 120mm option.
Unsurprisingly, with a heatsink attached, all the air speeds reduced notably. The Noctua NF-A14x25 G2 PWM chromax.black produced 10.4km/h, or 6.5mph speeds. This matched the SWAFAN EX14 ARGB when attached to a heatsink and was the second-best performing fan if you exclude the one made for the heatsink.
On the other hand, the Noctua NF-A14x25 G2 PWM chromax.black was one of the quieter fans, especially in relation to its airflow output. I measured the noise output of the fans spinning at maximum speed 50cm from the input side. As can be seen in the graph above, the Noctua NF-A14x25 G2 PWM chromax.black fan was in the middle of the pack, but closer to the lower end at 37.4dB(A). This is quite a bit quieter than both the Thermaltake and SilverStone fans, which is impressive to say the least. As such, on an overall picture, you can see how well Noctua has balanced both performance and noise.
On a more subjective scale from 0 to 10 where 0 is silent and 10 is the loudest, I would rate the Noctua NF-A14x25 G2 PWM chromax.black at 3.0/10 acoustically at full speed operation. Although the measured sound is higher than other 120mm fans, the Noctua NF-A14x25 G2 PWM chromax.black fans are quieter overall since they operate in a lower frequency range and thus is not as audibly perceivable as the smaller 120mm fans. In regular operation, the NF-A14x25 G2 slows down to be near silence.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware
3. Performance Tests
4. Conclusion
